Itâs over!
On Tuesday night in front of the hometown crowd, the Âé¶čAV Rockets ended their nine-game losing streak as they beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes 4-1.
After a scoreless first period, it was captain Gabriel Szturc who gave the Rockets a 1-0 lead with his 10th goal of the season at the 8:16 mark of the second period.
That lead held until the 5:05 mark of the third period when Lethbridge forward Logan Wormald scored on a penalty shot to tie the game at one.
But the Rockets held their own and dominated the last 10 minutes of the game. Exactly halfway through the frame, Tij Iginla scored his team-high 18th goal of the season to make it 2-1. With the goal, heâs tied for fourth in the WHL in goals.
Never fear, Tij Iginla is on the case.
â Âé¶čAV Rockets (@Âé¶čAV_Rockets)
Just under four minutes later, Macrus Pacheco scored his first goal of the season, on the powerplay, to make it 3-1 for the Rockets.
Szturc assisted on both Iginlaâs and Pachecoâs goals, giving me a three-point night.
With three minutes to go, veteran defenceman Caden Price added his third goal of the campaign, making it 4-1. Dylan Wightman assisted on the goal.
Forward Will Munro also had a multi-point night with two assists.
The most impressive part of the win is that the Rockets played with only 10 forwards which included defenceman Ismail Abougouche playing upfront. Andrew Cristall, Kayden Longley and Trae Johnson all didnât play because of injury.
âOur group came to play,â said Rockets head coach Kris Mallette in his media availability following the game. âIt was nice to see our goaltender cover up a lot of mistakes that we made, but watch our players do what theyâve been doing over the last little bit and then get rewarded for it. To lock it down was something that we havenât been able to do, which Iâm real proud of our group.â
Goaltender Jari Kykkanen made 34 saves in the win.
Âé¶čAV sits ninth in the Western Conference standings with a record of 8-12-2-0.
The Rockets are in Seattle on Wednesday night to take on the Thunderbirds. They then take on Seattle again on Saturday night (Nov. 25) back home at Prospera Place with puck drop at 7:05 p.m. It is also Teddy Bear Toss night at the rink. When the Rockets score their first goal of the game, fans are to throw their stuffed animals on the ice, which will all be donated to patients at Âé¶čAV General Hospital.
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